5 Daily Habits That Helped Me Break Free from Gray Area Drinking
Struggling with gray area drinking? You’re not alone, and you don’t need to hit rock bottom to want something different. In this blog, I share the five simple daily habits that helped me quietly get sober: early mornings, mindful rituals, journaling, movement, and more. This isn’t a recovery checklist. It’s a soft, honest look at how I began healing without shame. Whether you’re sober-curious or simply want to feel more present in your life, this is for you.
These small, grounding rituals helped me reclaim my mornings, my mind, and eventually, my life.
I didn’t hit rock bottom.
I didn’t get a DUI.
I didn’t lose my job, or my relationships, or end up in rehab.
But I was drinking every night. Quietly.
Privately.
Just enough to feel like I wasn’t in my life anymore.
Just enough to take the edge off, but also enough to start losing who I really was.
For a long time, I convinced myself it wasn’t that bad.
I was high-functioning. I was “fine.”
But inside? I felt numb. Anxious. Disconnected. And honestly, kind of ashamed.
Eventually, I realized: I wasn’t drinking because I wanted to.
I was drinking because I didn’t know what else to do with my feelings.
And so, one morning—after what felt like my thousandth “day one”—I decided to try something different.
Not perfect. Just different.
This is what I started doing.
And over time, these five small habits became the foundation of my sobriety.
1. Waking Up Before the World
I started waking up before anyone else needed me.
I get up at 4 am! You do not need to do that. Even 15 minutes earlier than you normally do, is a good start!
I get up before the texts, the emails, the noise.
And for a long time, I couldn’t do that… not when I was drinking every night.
Mornings were foggy, rushed, and full of regret.
But when I strung together a few sober days, I realized: I wanted my mornings back.
So I started getting up early, sometimes just to sit in the quiet, sometimes to catch the sunrise. I now catch most sunrises, and it is amazing!
That small choice, over and over again, reminded me that I could trust myself again.
If you’re trying to change your relationship with alcohol, this is a gentle place to start. Just set your alarm 15 minutes earlier. Sit in the quiet. Watch the sky change. You don’t need a plan, just a pause.
2. Mindful Coffee + 5-Minute Meditation
This one surprised me.
I used to roll out of bed and head straight for the chaos, scrolling my phone, checking email, rushing.
But instead, I started a new ritual: just sitting with my coffee, hands wrapped around the mug, breathing.
And then I’d do a quick 5-minute meditation, nothing fancy. I now do 20 minutes of meditation every morning… BUT I didn’t start with there!
Just stillness. A few deep breaths.
It helped calm my nervous system before the anxiety had a chance to hijack my whole day.
For those of us who used alcohol to manage emotions, stillness can feel terrifying.
But over time, this became my safe space.
You don’t have to “master” meditation. Just sit with your feelings for a few minutes before the day takes over. Let your body know: we’re okay. Meet yourself exactly where you are, not where you think you need to be! Small steps!
3. Journaling Through the Urges
This was the game-changer for me.
I didn’t journal to fix myself. I journaled to hear myself.
Some mornings it was a word. Other times a feeling, a sentence, a messy rant.
I just needed somewhere to put the noise in my head.
That’s why I created the BREATHE Mental Health Journal, a simple, no-pressure premium guided journal designed for women like me who are overwhelmed, anxious, and tired of pretending they’re okay.
I didn’t need another project.
I needed a lifeline.
And honestly? Journaling became my interruptor.
It helped me pause when I wanted to drink.
It helped me track patterns.
It helped me see that I wasn’t broken, I was just trying to cope the only way I knew how.
If you’ve ever thought, “I don’t have time to journal,” I get it. That’s why my journal gives you three tiny prompts a day. You don’t have to write a novel, you just have to check in with yourself.
Want to try it? Click here to check out the BREATHE Journal on Amazon.
4. Reading Something That Reminded Me Who I Wanted to Be
Every morning, I read for 10–15 minutes… just a few pages from a book that grounds me.
Nothing too heavy, but not fluff either.
Books that reminded me of who I was becoming. Who I wanted to be. What was possible.
A few I’ve come back to over and over again:
– The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope
– Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chödrön
– Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
This wasn’t about “fixing” myself.
It was about surrounding myself with voices that reminded me I wasn’t alone.
That I could do hard things.
That sobriety wasn’t just about not drinking, it was about becoming.
Try reading just one page each morning. Let it land. Let it plant a seed.
5. Walking It Out (Even When I Didn’t Want To)
There were mornings I didn’t want to get out of bed, let alone go for a walk.
But movement saved me.
Not in a fitness kind of way… in a nervous system kind of way.
Walking helped me move through cravings, sadness, restlessness, all of it.It became a reset button.
And the more I moved, the more I started to trust my body again, not punish it, not numb it, just be in it.
Start with 5 minutes around the block. No pressure. Just move. Let your body feel what your mind is still catching up to: you are doing something new. After my surgery, I could only walk for 5 minutes, but those 5 minutes were gold! I now walk for 30 minutes, but I’m still slow, and that’s OK!
If You’re Quietly Struggling…
You don’t have to tell the world you’re getting sober.
You don’t need to announce anything.
You don’t even have to use the word “sober” if it doesn’t feel right yet.
But you can start doing one small thing every morning that brings you back to yourself.
These five habits helped me come home to myself, slowly, quietly, and without shame or guilt.
And if journaling feels like the right place to start, I made something for you.Grab the BREATHE Journal here, premium mental health journal for overwhelmed women who want a soft, private, beautiful way to check in with themselves.
Or, if you’re not ready yet, that’s okay too.
But if this blog resonated with you, would you do me a favour?
Forward it to someone you care about.
We don’t talk about gray area drinking enough, but we should. And we can.
P.S. I talk about this a lot on YouTube.
You can watch one of my YouTube videos here: A Thousand and One Day Ones
New videos every week about journaling, gray area drinking, and what it really looks like to take your power back at midlife.
If you made it all the way through this blog… THANK YOU! Your support means a lot to me.
Jewels xo